After the previous day's absolutely amazing bear sightings, no one
was surprised when the bridge made the early morning announcement
that two more polar bears had been sighted just off the port bow.

This shot was complicated by the fact that the ship was steaming,
so I didn't have much time to work on image-making. Typically, from
the time the announcement is made, you have about five minutes (tops)
viewing time before the animals are left behind. Luckily, the bridge
announcement came early enough for me to get a few shots of this mother
and cub making their way across the ice.

I chose this shot because
of the cub's inquisitive glance. At one point during the encounter,
the cub was so fascinated by our noisy vessel that it started wandering
in the wrong direction. The attentive mother stopped immediately and
snarled a warning, then waited until the cub caught up.